From union, a plea for janitors' benefits

Published 8:00 pm, Sunday, May 18, 2008

NORWALK

By JARED NEWMAN

Hour Staff Writer

Over the last year, Diana Colorado's son, daughter and husband have received medical treatment, and she regularly sees a doctor for a skin condition. Without her employee health care plan, she said though a translator, she'd have to take out a loan to maintain her family's health.

Colorado is one of about 20 janitors at Norwalk Community College and roughly 595 contract cleaners in state-owned facilities who may lose their medical and other benefits because of an interpretation of state law paired with rising costs.

The Standard Wage Law mandates that these workers, who are employed through contractors and not directly by the state, get at least 30 percent above their wage in benefits. It's meant to include health care, pension, sick and vacation days and other forms of insurance, but union officials say the law is often interpreted as a cap on benefits instead of a minimum requirement.

Because employers can pay some or all of that 30 percent in cash, health care could be discarded if the cost of providing it breaks the cap.

"Come Jan. 1, 2009, once the health care costs increase again, under our contract there simply won't be enough money for health care," said Kurt Westby, director of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which represents union cleaners in Connecticut.

The percentage of benefit pay for direct employees of the state is 58 percent, according to the state comptroller's office.

"That's an inherent structural deficiency, or some would argue discrimination, against these (contract) workers, most of whom are minorities," Westby said.

The 30 percent benefit rate hasn't changed since the legislature enacted the Standard Wage Law in 2000, said Gary Pechie, director of the Wage and Workplace Standards Division at the state Department of Labor.

With hourly rates at roughly $10 per hour, the extra $3 per hour isn't enough to cover insurance. There's still an incentive to provide benefits instead of cash because the contractor gets a tax write-off, but Pechie finds that some employers just pay a smaller amount in benefits, such as 20 percent, and make up the difference in cash.

The labor department has no control over this. "The bottom line is they need a legislative change," Pechie said. "The labor department cannot administratively or regulatorily take action here to increase that 30 percent."

Raising benefit pay to satisfy the union would cost about $750,000 per year, Westby said. Talks with top lawmakers during the last state legislative session went nowhere.

"There's a lot of lip service, but there's no real action so far," he said.

State Rep. James Amann, D-Milford, speaker of the House, said a budget deficit derailed a plan to help the workers. The death of two cleaners in the capitol, one of whom left his family without enough money to pay for funeral services, touched Amann.

"It was very embarrassing to me, and that's why I really tried hard to see if we could do something for these guys," Amann said.

He said a change to the Standard Wage Law should be considered next legislative session.

Meanwhile, the workers' burden on state coffers could actually increase as a result of inaction by lawmakers; Westby claims that the workers who lose health care may, in turn, become eligible for state-assisted health care programs. Their children -- 357 statewide -- would also qualify for HUSKY, the state's subsidized plan for uninsured children and their parents.

"The end game is that it becomes a lot more expensive for the state as a monetary issue," Westby said.

His organization had not initially made calculations to back this claim, but in an e-mail, a spokeswoman for the union said the cost to public could be upwards of $2 million.

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Staff writer Jared Newman may be reached at (203) 354-1045 or jnewman@thehour.com